The Buffalo Bills have let wide receiver Keon Coleman hold them back, collectively, over the last 2 years.
Every positive moment has been met with 2 negative ones.
Coleman has proven to be an unreliable, spoiled, and, perhaps most damning, clueless professional athlete who is a net loser in every analytic, real or imagined, including his impact on a locker room.
All of that figures into why Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton singled Coleman out as the biggest bust on Buffalo’s roster in 2026, which would continue the pattern he’s established since he was selected out of Florida State with a 2nd-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Coleman is entering the 3rd season of his 4-year, $10 million rookie contract.
“Keon Coleman faces palpable pressure entering his third season,” Moton wrote on July 10. “Head coach Joe Brady said he turned down trade offers for the wideout despite his recent struggles. In 2025, the Bills benched Coleman and listed him as a healthy inactive for multiple games. Clearly, they expect more from the 2024 second-rounder and still believe he can make a significant developmental leap, but it’s unlikely to happen this year. The Bills traded a second-round pick to the Chicago Bears for wideout DJ Moore and a 2026 fifth-round pick. With that new addition, Coleman doesn’t have a clear pathway to a big role in the passing attack. Moore, slot wideout Khalil Shakir and tight end Dalton Kincaid will probably see most of the targets, which leaves few opportunities for any other pass-catcher to make a significant impact.”
Keon Coleman Seemed Destined for Trade
While Brady turned down trade offers for Coleman, it’s safe to say that the 1st-year head coach views himself as the 1 who could turn around the talented wide receiver’s career, because former head coach Sean McDermott certainly couldn’t do it.
In May, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler put forth a trade pitch that would have sent Coleman to the Ravens, who are in desperate need of wide receiver depth.
Fowler’s trade pitch saw the Ravens swap a 2027 5th-round pick for the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Coleman, who has seen maturity issues derail his career in a big way over his 1st 2 seasons.
“Buffalo seems content with keeping Coleman, but Baltimore can jump into the fray to improve its thin receiver depth,” Fowler wrote. “Coleman’s play style should fit with Lamar Jackson, as he’s a big receiver with catch radius. This would also allow Buffalo to develop fourth-round rookie Skyler Bell for a sizable role in the offense.”
Keon Coleman: Reputation for Screwing Things Up
The No. 33 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the Bills benched Coleman for being late to team meetings in 2024 and was a healthy scratch for 3 more games.
As a rookie in 2024, Coleman was benched for “off-field timing issues” — also being late to team meetings.
Coleman got an extra dose of humiliation when Bills owner Terry Pegula cited picking Coleman as 1 of the reasons former head coach Sean McDermott was fired following an AFC Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos — a game in which Coleman had a touchdown reception.
Through his 1st 2 seasons, Coleman has 67 receptions for 960 yards and 8 touchdowns in just 26 games — tantalizing numbers.
“Getting benched four games, some (expletive) like that … unacceptable,” Coleman told ESPN’s Alaine Getzenberg on May 19. “Ended off on a decent note, had a touchdown [in the playoffs), so that was — I wouldn’t even call that a confidence boost, it was just a positive to end the season on. But we lost. So, that was another negative to erase that. But, I mean, I don’t need self-motivation, though. I know what I am here to do and what I am capable of doing.”
Embattled $10 Million Bills WR Singled Out as ‘Biggest Bust’ on Roster